Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter Weekend Shenanagins

This was a busy weekend, lots of fun & fitness, and my bank account kind of hates me right now.I suppose there are worse things.

Friday

Work then a little shopping and lunch with mom. This however, is not why my bank account hates me.

Friday Night was spent relaxing and running errands. I have my phone on me at all times, assuming Megan is going to go into labor at any moment. She hasn't yet so I spent Friday night watching movies, and studying for some work things.
(I'll explain more about studying for work another day, that's a whole post in itself)

Saturday

Early morning, as always for a race.

Hollie & I warming up at Mendon Ponds

Hollie drove out to run Spring Forward 15k with me. We got to Mendon Ponds Park with a little time to spare after finding parking. We ran around warming up and attempting to not be miserable. It was chilly at the start, and we are both recovering from races so neither of us was extremely stoaked to race. The thing about the two of us is....taking it easy is not always easy for us. We both ended up having pretty darn good runs. She finished 4th for women and I was 8th woman. I beat my time on this course from last year, so I was happy. Especially since my legs were shot all week from the 30k last weekend.

Proof I look like a gremlin when I run.
This was the last half mile of the race.
Finished in 1:05:50 for 15k (9.3 miles)

I really wasn't sure what I was going to be able to run. All week my runs felt like crap and I had to simply focus on one foot in front of the other. The Spring Forward 15k course is also pretty challenging, the hills are tall and frequent. I managed somewhat even splits, besides some...erm..hiccups from 6-8 (most of the hills).

I didn't finish as strong as I would have liked, mentally and physically I was drained and wanted to be done.

The Dynamic Duo: Hollie & myself.

After the race, Hollie and I walked around catching up with people we knew and just taking it easy. There were so many people there that I hadn't seen in a long time so it was nice catching up, runners really are great people.

After that, we went to lunch at a local Mediterranean restaurant and chatted over 12 cups of coffee.....each. Friendship is finding someone who needs caffeine as much as you do. Like seriously. After lunch we meandered across the street to Towpath Bike so I could admire the shiny expensive road bikes. I have been looking at a few different ones, and I had to go see them in person.

Like a little kid with my new wheels!

Later that day I brought John back to Towpath with me (hes my resident bike expert, and seeing as we are going to be getting hitched, big expenses sort of need to be discussed together). I had been looking at a Trek Lexa, and a Felt ZW100, and decided to start by trying the Felt out. They let me take her for a spin, and gave John a bike to ride with me. After 15 minutes of riding around and playing with gears, I was in love. A swipe of the debit card later (here is where my bank account started hating on me), and I was a proud new owner of a Silver Felt ZW100 and a new Bontrager Quantum helmet.

It was an investment that I know will be worth it. With my first multi-sport event being a month away, and my first half iron a few months away I know I will be getting so much use out of it. One of the best things is that even though John just had knee surgery, he is allowed to bike. So even though we can't run together right now, he is able to go on some rides with me and give us some more time together.

We rushed home after getting my bike and got some food and were watching the Syracuse vs. Marquette NCAA Basketball game. I had my 'Cuse shirt on and was a happy little camper relaxing watching the game. John also laughed at me multiple times because he would come in the room and I would just be standing with my bike.

This was the point when I realized that my favorite 'cuse shirt matches my new silver and orange bike. WINNING #OrangeNation

On to Easter Sunday....

I spent my morning with my beautiful Kinvara's, but they were begging me for some easy miles so that's what they got. We did 7 easy miles around the city and felt great to just relax and run. Easy miles were just what my legs and mind needed to unwind and end the week on a good note. Beautiful morning for a run, it was peaceful out and weather was nice enough that only capris and a light long sleeve were necessary. This spring weather this weekend was wonderful, too bad winter has to be a pain in the ass and come back for the next few days (according to the weather man in the box).

When I came back from my run, I was in for a rude awakening. I went to get in my car to go get some Starbucks and run an errand and my car was acting weird, kept shutting off when I would turn it over. John came down and helped me, after tinkering around and changing the spark plugs(thinking that would help), we were in for another rude awakening. There are some other problems under the hood, and for the time being I am crossing my fingers it isn't too serious. That's kind of my luck, I drop a pretty penny (okay, lots of pretty pennies) on a new bike, and the next day my car starts acting up. (thanks Murphy, you're an ass.) We managed to get it down the road to the shop so they can look at it in the morning, everyone cross your fingers please.

My Felt road bike, and John's Felt Tri-bike

In the early afternoon, John and I took our fleet of Felt's out for some miles on the canal. It was great to get my new wheels out there and see what they could do. Unfortunately the canal path was pretty packed today so we couldn't really fly, but it was good to be easy and focus on learning the gears and getting used to my bike. Can't complain about enjoying spring weather and riding bikes with my man, quality time together. We got roughly 9 miles in before we had to head home to get ready for Easter Dinner.

Easter dinner with my parents was great, good food (Prime rib, yummy!) and great company. Unfortunately didn't get to see my sister and her husband. She still hasn't gone into labor, hopefully within the next few days.We are all beyond anxious to meet this little man!!

Overall it was a good weekend, eventful and kind of tiring (not sure why it took so much out of me), but good all the same. This week I need to focus on getting base running and biking mileage in and LOTS of stretching. I am having a few issues (not injuries), that need some attention. I need to focus on them before they turn into injuries, so bring on the stretching, weights, foam rolling and ice.

How was your Easter weekend?Did you manage to get some workouts in with the Holiday?Ever had car troubles show up at the worst possible time?

I found your blog through a mutual friend - I was surprised to see myself in one of your photos: spring forward 15k warm up with you and your friend, I'm off to the right in the pink jacket, #564. Random!